CHINESE DEHUA BLANC-DE-CHINE FIGURE OF WENCHANG AND ACOLYTE
17TH-18TH CENTURY
Auction: 08 November 2024 from 10:00 GMT
Description
十七/十八世紀 德化白瓷文昌童子像
the God of Literature modelled seated wearing a scholar's cap and the face detailed with a moustache and beard, his left hand hidden within the long-sleeved robe and the right hand holding a pen, accompanied by a small smiling acolyte
Dimensions
36.5cm high
Provenance
Formerly in a private Paris collection
巴黎私人舊藏
Footnote
Wenchang, the Daoist God of Literature, has been variously associated with figures from the Jin, Tang and Song Dynasties. He was believed to be the bearer of good luck for ill-prepared examination candidates and often holds as in the present example a pen. The God is variously modelled on his own or with Zhuyi, the distributor of examination results, Guixing, a demon-like figure and often is depicted with two attendants, Tianlong and Diya, one of which is probably modelled in the present lot.
Compare similar blanc-de-Chine figures of Wenchang: one smaller figure (28cm high) similarly holding a pen in hand together with Guixing, dated to the Ming dynasty circa 1600 to 1644, is in the collection of British Museum, registration number: 1980,0728.54; another smaller figure holding a scroll together with an acolyte, dated to 17th-18th century, was sold at Bonhams London, 17 May 2012, lot 2.